You probably won't be missing anything with Dark Souls retail other than the convenience of installing from a disc. The vast majority of PC releases in Europe are just a box, a DVD and a piece of paper with a product key on it.

Given Bandai's treatment of Dark Souls for consoles, no, we're likely not missing anything and I'd prefer to have it on Steam anyway if I couldn't activate the game on it (likely not), but it's a strong example of how dire retail releases are for PC games here.

I've always found that weird. I guess you guys over in NA must be a better market for download games. In Europe and here in Australia, pretty much every PC game gets a retail release. Heck, we've even had some recently for some indie stuff like Binding of Isaac, Terraria, Super Meat Boy, Gemini Rue etc. All pretty cheap and come with posters, soundtracks, art and such. Mostly thanks to distributor Lace Mamba.

I've always found that weird. I guess you guys over in NA must be a better market for download games. In Europe and here in Australia, pretty much every PC game gets a retail release. Heck, we've even had some recently for some indie stuff like Binding of Isaac, Terraria, Super Meat Boy, Gemini Rue etc. All pretty cheap and come with posters, soundtracks, art and such. Mostly thanks to distributor Lace Mamba.

I think it's more that retail for PC games was chocking and dying until Valve stepped in with Steam. Consoles were traditionally bigger here, though I guess that became more extreme over the last decade.

And now I see Dark Souls PC actually gets a really nice European LE-thing afterall! Figures I'd find this out right after the post about how it'd probably be completely phoned in.

it's 60% off right now in a "flash sale" -- for the next 5 hours, only $8 instead of $20. Get on it.

Just bought it!

Oath is only $5.09, so I might end up getting that too before this whole sale ends... (edit: just went ahead and bought it because it's all of five bucks)

Is there any reason at all to play one before the other? Due to gameplay mechanics improving or something, perhaps?

Nothing before Felghana. You'd get more out of Origin by playing SOME version of Ys I and II first (preferably Chronicles on PSP). But Origin and Felghana don't influence one another. Personally I'd play Felghana first. It's shorter (esp since it's only one character).

So I signed up with Steam and bought Origin. I'm not sure when I'll get around to playing it, but I just couldn't pass it up. I love Ys games. Am I able to use a 360 or PS3 controller tp play this on my PC? I thought I heard someone say that was possible. No way am I playing it with the keyboard and mouse. Ugh.

Yup, gamepads work on the game. Just plug it in and you're good to go. At least, that's how mine is.

Just as a reminder, if you're using a 360 controller, make sure you're using a wired one. I just got Ys Origin, and I'll personally be using my PS3 controller, which I'm pretty sure is just plug in and play.

There's some tweaking that's necessary as otherwise stuff like the Menu button will be weird, but yeah. MotionInJoy will cover PS3, and wired for 360 or the receiver if you have it, though for PC gaming/backup it's good to have a wired one anyway, some games have issues with wireless they don't with wired.

it's 60% off right now in a "flash sale" -- for the next 5 hours, only $8 instead of $20. Get on it.

Just bought it!

Oath is only $5.09, so I might end up getting that too before this whole sale ends... (edit: just went ahead and bought it because it's all of five bucks)

Is there any reason at all to play one before the other? Due to gameplay mechanics improving or something, perhaps?

Nothing before Felghana. You'd get more out of Origin by playing SOME version of Ys I and II first (preferably Chronicles on PSP). But Origin and Felghana don't influence one another. Personally I'd play Felghana first. It's shorter (esp since it's only one character).

The advice and info is appreciated. I went with Felghana before I read this post. Glad that I ended up making the right choice, haha. Enjoying myself so far playing on normal. Bosses sure do have a learning curve to them, which I am liking. Only at the final boss of the first dungeon, though.